In that price range, you should also consider Yamahas and Schecters. But Squiers and Sterlings are awesome guitars.

The best thing to do is not to worry too much about the brand and just try out a few within your budget that catch your eye at a store. There's a lot of variation between even guitars of the same model, especially at lower budgets.

Pick a guitar that gets you excited to play. If you have access to a music store go in and hold the guitars. You will figure out quickly what shapes fit your hands/body better. Pay attention to the neck shape/size/thickness. Everyone prioritizes different things in a guitar. So I don't think anyone can actually answer this question for you. You also haven't told us what kind of music you play. That might dictate what type of pickups, bridge, & body shape we recommend.

The only real thing I recommend on any guitar you choose is to have it setup by a guitar tech or learn how to set it up yourself. It isn't hard, but takes a bit of time and care to get the string height, intonation, neck relief, and pickup height just right. This will improve any guitar in any price range. Also remember to always lube your nut.

I got a PRS SE (after getting over the bird inlays) and the wow for the money is off the charts. I've owned strats, sg's, random floyd rose thrashers, this thing has more sound/tone range than most.

Any idea what kind of style you're interested in? Do you need to budget for any other gear? What kind of guitar were you playing before and how did you find it (what did you like about it, what didn't you, any annoyances or things you wished you could do with it?)

The age old advice of going in person and picking something that feels good to you really is the best thing to do.

I'd definitely recommend checking out some of the less 'heritage' guitar brands, if value for money is something that matters a lot to you. In terms of emulating your heroes, Fender, Gibson, etc. are great, but you get so much more for your money with other brands.

Any example I'd start with is Reverend. They make excellent guitars with many appointments that fix the problems that Fender (for example) never bothered/didn't dare mess with for fear of upsetting purists.

But that's just one, there are plenty of others too!

Fender Player Series HSS will be the most versatile guitar. But honestly you'll want to budget a good practice amp modeler as much as you would a guitar. The Spark has been working out for a lot of people I know.

I'm not familiar with Australian prices but you do mention mid-range. So I'll assume that you have access to $500 Squiers and Epiphones and the like. They can be very good quality, especially with a setup to fine tune them a bit. At your price point, an SE model PRS is well worth the money. When I started to pick my guitars up again mid-pandemic, after ~20 years, I started by buying an SE Custom 24-08 and it's been really comfortable and versatile.

Like others have said, for sure go into your local shops to try out a few models before dropping any cash.

Just my personal preference, but graduating from a Fender Squier to an Ibanez RG-170 (that I picked up in a garage sale for $80!) was the best thing I ever did for myself as a guitarist. The action is smooth to the point where you can play slide barehanded, and the expanded neck makes a huge difference in your range. If nothing else, give one a play while you're in the shop - effing beautiful guitars.

Thanks for all the excellent advice everybody! I'll do what a lot of you said and go to a music store to try some out before I make any decisions.